Black and White
by brizo3
Summary: Shades of Grey episode addition. Did the rest of SG1 know more than they were letting on?


Setting: During the episode Shades of Grey, after Jack has stolen the technology and retired, but before Daniel drops by. It adds extra scenes and carries on through past the end of the episode.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters contained herein, or the basic plot-line. I've also shamelessly stolen some of the dialogue, which was written by Jonathan Glassner. I certainly don't plan on making any money out of this (although an extra income would be nice), it's done purely for fun.

* * *

This didn't sit right. For all the things the Colonel had done in his life, for all the things that had happened to him, stealing from their allies was something he should never have done.

Such an act of thievery was beneath him, surely.

She was his second, it was her job to study him, to learn from him. To understand him, so she could back him up. She had spent almost three years doing so, applying almost as much attention to it as she did to any of her more official projects. She respected him, admired him, because he was worthy of it. And this... this wasn't right.

It smacked of betrayal. Betrayal of SG-1, of the Tollan, and of the Asgard.

And betrayal was the very antithesis of Colonel O'Neill.

A light knock made her lift her head up from the computer screen she had been staring at. Daniel was leaning around her doorway.

"Hey," he said, wandering in and reclining against one of her workbenches.

"Hey."

"So," he started, pushing his glasses up his nose, "what do you reckon?"

She didn't need to ask him to clarify. There had only been one thing on all of their minds since coming back from Tollana.

She exhaled loudly and leant her head on her fist, "I'm not sure."

"Something's going on," he told her. She nodded in agreement.

"Someone should attempt to talk to him," a voice said.

They both turned to find Teal'c stood in the doorway, his hands clasped behind his back.

Daniel smiled wryly, "Yeah," he said, "That'll work."

"Nevertheless, it must be attempted, Daniel Jackson."

Sam agreed with both of them. Someone should talk to him, but it was unlikely to reveal much. The Colonel wasn't exactly the chatty type.

She nodded, "Any volunteers?" she asked. Daniel and Teal'c both looked at her, but neither of them said anything. "Thought so." They were all very aware that trying to get to the bottom of it would be like pulling teeth.

"Draw straws?" Daniel suggested.

"Looks like," Sam agreed.

"Indeed."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sam and Teal'c sat in Daniel's apartment in silence. It was the closest to Colonel O'Neill's house, and they were using it as a base of operations. They had agreed between them that whatever was going on should be kept away from the SGC. Besides, the base was full of cameras and other people, and they wanted to be able to have a completely private conversation.

Sam glanced at her watch. Daniel had been gone for almost an hour. The journey to the Colonel's would take him about 20 minutes each way. She had no idea how long he'd spend inside the house itself. It depended on what mood the Colonel was in, what he said, and how persistent Daniel was feeling. Realistically, he could be back at any time.

She took a sip of her lukewarm coffee and grimaced, then got up to make another one.

She had just settled back onto the couch when she heard Daniel come in the front door. She rapidly put the cup down on the table, narrowly avoiding spilling it. Daniel came into sight, hanging his coat up on a hook.

"Well?" she asked him, although the look on her face told her most of what she needed to know.

He headed into the kitchen and started on his own coffee.

"What did O'Neill say, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel finally looked at them both, leaning forward on his kitchen counter. "Short version? He said that he was fed up of the Asgard and Tollan hoarding their technology, that unlike _people like me_ he needed to see _tangible_ gains for our efforts."

"People like you?" Sam queried.

Daniel waved his hand dismissively and turned back to pour his coffee, "People interested in culture," he said slightly bitterly.

Sam winced, "Anything else?"

Daniel settled into a chair with his coffee, "Only that being sweet and nice wasn't going to stop any Goa'uld motherships. Oh, and that our friendship doesn't actually have a foundation."

"He said that?"

Daniel nodded and scowled into his coffee.

"It's kind of like what he said to me..."

Daniel looked up at her interestedly, "What?"

"He said that he hadn't been acting like himself since he'd met me, but that now he was."

Daniel leant back in his chair, now looking more thoughtful than angry, "Well that's... that's ridiculous. No-one can do that for three years under the conditions we work in. Not without _one_ of us cottoning on to what he's really like."

Sam nodded in agreement.

"I mean," Daniel continued, "did you think that he could ever do something like this?"

Sam shook her head.

"Teal'c?"

"No." Teal'c replied.

"But... why would he do something like this then? If not for the obvious reasons?" Daniel removed his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose. The room fell into silence as they all considered the question.

Why would he steal from the Tollan? He knew he'd get caught, he knew General Hammond would find out. So, why bother? Even if he had felt that way, the whole exercise was pointless. The Tollan would get their technology back, and he'd be in hot water. In fact, his only likely options would be retirement or court-martial.

So why do it? If he wanted to retire he could have just done it. Sam was fairly sure that he didn't want to retire anyway. He enjoyed his work.

So he stole it so that he'd be forced to retire, even though he didn't want to?

Sam was getting a headache. Give her nice simple equations any day, she thought.

_'Now I'm acting like myself.'_

Now?

But not before?

Since he'd met her... Since he'd met her he'd been... what? Good. Honourable. Loyal.

And before that? Before that he'd been...

"Black Ops," she said aloud.

Daniel looked at her, frowning, "What?"

Sam didn't reply immediately, but turned the idea over in her head. There were no obvious holes.

Daniel was still staring at her, his eyebrows raised high. Teal'c was looking at her too.

"Before the SGC," she said, "What did the Colonel do?"

"Special Forces," said Daniel.

"Right." she nodded, "Black Ops."

Daniel shook his head at her slightly, still not getting it.

"I do not understand, Major Carter," Teal'c said from beside her.

"Undercover," she said.

Daniel's eyes widened slightly in realisation, then he squinted in thought, "Undercover for what?"

Teal'c, too, was thinking. "The Touchstone," he said after a second.

"Of course," Sam exclaimed, "The people who took the Touchstone were in SGC uniforms, but they weren't us. They were a rogue operation stealing technology."

"So Jack's gone undercover to, what, infiltrate them?"

"Makes sense."

"He wanted to convince everyone that he was willing to steal technology to help Earth, so they'd approach him to work for them..."

Sam nodded.

"He's a better actor than I gave him credit for," Daniel said, "If I didn't know him, I'd certainly have believed it. But, at his house?"

"They've probably got it bugged," Sam told him.

"So, what do we do?" he asked her.

"Nothing. We continue to act like we think our COs lost his mind. We don't mention it to anyone. In fact, once we leave here it's probably best not to talk about it again, even to each other."

"Indeed," said Teal'c.

Daniel nodded in agreement. "What'll they do if they find out?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Let us not find out," said Teal'c.

"Right," Daniel looked at his watch, "We should get back to base."

The three of them rose and headed to the door. Daniel paused with his hand on the door, "I hope this is over soon."

Sam nodded, "Me, too. But we have to keep the act up until it is."

"O'Neill is a most capable warrior, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c told them, "He will return to us as soon as he is able."

"And when he does," Daniel said, "He and I are going to have a talk about excluding us from things."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

One week later:

Daniel stood in the Control Room, watching Jack walk up the ramp towards the Stargate.

Hammond called out to him and Jack stopped. He saw Sam, Janet and Hammond salute Jack, who didn't turn around, but headed on through the 'gate.

The 'gate shut down with a familiar whoosh, and his friends into the Gate Room turned to exit. He caught Sam's eye and she looked at him meaningfully. None of them had mentioned it since leaving his apartment, they had simply waited to see what would happen. Himself and Teal'c had cheerfully settled in to insulting Makepeace behind their new commander's back, occasionally making Sam smile despite her determination to maintain her professionalism. He had once thought that nobody could be more dismissive than Jack about cultural issues. He had mellowed that opinion since then, but if he hadn't, then Daniel would definitely have found such a man in Colonel Makepeace. The Marine was like a sledgehammer: hard, blunt and utterly without sensitivity. He felt sorry for Sam. She had to maintain the illusion of respect.

But surely this new development meant that things were coming to a head. They didn't know the real reason for Jack going off-world, but it must be necessary for his infiltration into the rogue group.

He heard Sam walking up the steps. She came to stand next to him and he looked at her. She looked back, then they both turned to look at the Stargate, at the spot where their maverick leader had disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The klaxons sounded around Sam, making her look up from the simulation she was running.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

She leapt off her stool and jogged toward the Gate Room in as dignified a manner as she could muster.

She came through the blast door and stopped. The room was unusually full of people. Airmen were milling around using plastic ties to cuff the strangers, and her CO was standing at the top of the ramp, his arm extended through the event horizon.

She came to stand beside Daniel and General Hammond, "What's going on?"

"Colonel O'Neill has apprehended some rogue NID agents," the General told her, which Sam thought was very vague. If SG1 hadn't worked it out she'd have had no idea what he was talking about. Hammond turned to look at her with a slight twinkle in his eye.

Oh. He knew they knew. Apparently they hadn't been as secret as they'd hoped.

"Only to those who know you, Major," he said, reading her mind.

One more man stumbled through the 'gate and Colonel O'Neill removed his hand, allowing the wormhole to shut down. He sauntered down the ramp.

"Good job, kids." He moved over towards where Teal'c was holding a woman Sam vaguely recognised. Makepeace was there too, and the Colonel peered over his shoulder, "Uh, give me one of those," he said, motioning towards the cuffs.

"Here." Makepeace held out a pair.

O'Neill took them and suddenly moved to grab Makepeace by the arms, holding his wrists together and putting on the cuffs. Several airman covered the Marine with their rifles.

"What the hell..." Makepeace protested, "What are you doing?"

"That would be my job."

Sam blinked, and followed Hammond as he moved forward. Makepeace? Yeah, he wasn't a particularly nice guy, but a traitor? She hadn't seen it, and for a second felt slightly guilty. She had worked with the man and not seen it...

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hammond said to the assembled prisoners, "I'm pleased to announce that you're all under arrest for high crimes against the United States and its allies."

Makepeace looked seriously annoyed, "You really blew it, O'Neill."

"Oh, I think it came off quite nicely, don't you, General?"

Hammond nodded, "Yes I do."

Makepeace wasn't finished, "You have no idea how high up this goes."

The Colonel looked at him scathingly, "Like the Tollan, Tok'ra, Asgard, Nox... those folks?"

"They refuse to give us the things we need to defend ourselves against the Goa'uld."

"We don't need their stuff Makepeace," O'Neill countered, "We do need them."

Hammond had had enough. "Get them out of here," he told the surrounding airmen, who started to herd the dozen or so people out of the 'gate room.

Daniel came forward, "So, just to uh, clarify, this whole past week, beginning with the appeal we made on Tollana in which I did a lot of hard work, by the way... I take it that was all a scam."

Hammond turned to address them, "Within the last two weeks, the Asgard and the Tollan approached us independently of each other with evidence that we were stealing technology from them," he said.

Sam frowned slightly, "We?" she asked "The SGC?"

"Yes," Hammond said, "The Asgard, the Tollan and the Nox were going to sever all ties with us. But we convinced them the theft must be the action of a rogue group from outside the SGC."

Councillor Travell had entered the room, and chose this moment to join the discussion, "We insisted that you apprehend them yourselves," she told them, "You have now regained our trust."

Sam still felt that clarification was needed, "So, you set that whole thing up on Tollana in the hopes that the mole would think you were one of them and approach you?" she asked the Colonel.

"And you didn't think you could trust us to help?" Daniel asked him, still irritated at being kept out of things.

General Hammond answered the question instead, "We wanted to assure that your reaction to the Colonel's behaviour was as it should be. And the Asgard insisted that Colonel O'Neill be the only one involved."

Colonel O'Neill shifted his eyebrows self-deprecatingly, "They like me."

Hammond turned to Travell, "And now, will you come with me your Eminence?" The two of them turned and exited the 'gate room, presumably for a debrief.

Colonel O'Neill looked at them, "I'm back," he said.

He was. And after a week of Makepeace, Sam appreciated him more than ever. "It's good to have you back, sir," she told him.

"Indeed." Teal'c chimed in.

"Thank you."

Daniel remained silent, though Sam suspected it was more to do with wanting to wind Jack up than through any real resentment.

Colonel O'Neill didn't know this, however, "Um, Daniel?" He motioned with his hand and started to move toward the door, Daniel going with him and Sam and Teal'c following along behind. "That stuff I was talking about at my house..."

"Uh..." She heard Daniel start.

"The place was bugged," Jack explained, "I had to keep up the act."

So she had been right about that, she thought, which was always nice.

"I, it's, I understand," Daniel said, probably wondering just how much he should reveal about their knowledge.

Colonel O'Neill continued, "And obviously the whole friendship thing, the foundation, it's all solid."

"Obviously, it's, you don't have to..."

"Nothing to worry about."

"You don't have to..."

"No, no," Jack interrupted, "I feel I kinda... I do appreciate that you were the one that came to see if I was ok. That... that means something."

Sam smirked, and Daniel stopped walking, "Ah, actually, no it doesn't."

Her CO looked confused, "Huh?"

Daniel glanced back at her and Teal'c, sharing in the joke. "Um, we, uh, we drew straws," he told him, "I lost."

Biting her lip to stop from grinning at the stupefied look on her COs face, Sam moved past them both, and Daniel turned to walk with her down the corridor. Behind them she heard Teal'c follow.

They'd gone about ten metres before he recovered. "What?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The bar was nice, Jack decided. Not too full, not too empty, nicely decorated.

He watched Carter as she shifted opposite him, leaning forward to rest on the table and looking toward the bar, where Daniel and Teal'c were getting drinks.

The past week had been difficult, as he had known it would be. He was closer to these people than he had been to most people he'd ever known, and certainly closer than anybody else he knew currently. The fact that he'd been able to pull the wool over their eyes was good, it had been necessary for the mission, but a small part of him was wounded that they hadn't seen through him. He ignored that though, pushing it aside as he always did with unnecessary feelings.

"Carter," he started, gaining her attention, "about this last week. I, err, I've already talked to Daniel and Teal'c, and I just wanna make sure that, y'know, we're okay."

His toes were clenched in his shoes as she looked steadily at him. He didn't want to fall out with Carter. He was sure what he had done would have hurt her, but couldn't bring himself to regret it.

She smiled at him slightly, and his toes started to unclench.

"We're okay, Sir," she told him, "I understand."

"Really?"

She nodded, her blue eyes guileless, and he believed her.

"Good," he said, "I wouldn't want to think that you didn't trust me anymore..."

She smiled again, "I trust you, Sir. You did what you had to."

He nodded, somewhat surprised that she had taken it so well. Daniel had been irritated at being left out of what he saw as an important SG1 mission, as well as being lied to. Teal'c had been... well... difficult to read as usual. He seemed to have accepted that it was necessary, but Jack could see a flicker of annoyance in his Jaffa friend. But Carter, she seemed happy with it all. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, she was Air Force, Jacob had done some secret stuff, he knew, so she'd grown up with it.

He still didn't like it, though, having to lie to her. And the rest of his team. But her in particular. They were a military unit, part of something that Daniel and Teal'c weren't, and they had to be able to rely on each other, trust each other completely. He hated to think that he might have shaken that.

"Really, Sir." he heard her say, and realised that he had been staring at her. She had obviously taken his silence for doubt.

He smiled at her crookedly, "Yeah. Good."

He took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly, then started tapping his fingers on the wood of the table.

"Sir?"

He looked up at her, "Yah?"

She glanced towards Daniel and Teal'c, and leant forward towards him slightly. She looked nervous, and he frowned. "What is it?"

"Uh," she started, "We, uh, we knew. Sir."

Knew? He tilted his head to one side slightly to encourage her to continue.

"Well, obviously we didn't _know_," she said, "but we figured that you were on some sort of undercover mission. Something to do with the people who stole the Touchstone on Madrona."

He blinked. They _knew_? The small part of him which had been hurt by their acceptance of his thievery relaxed and disappeared.

He leant forward towards her so that only a foot separated them. "How?" he asked quietly.

She swallowed and shrugged. "It just wasn't you, Sir. The rest was guesswork."

She blinked at him, and Jack suddenly felt incredibly content. They'd seen through him. His team had seen through him, they'd known him better than that. They'd figured it out, and they hadn't said anything; they'd kept the secret, knowing that it was necessary. She was still looking at him, searching for approval.

He grinned across the table at her, she smiled back. "Okay," he told her. He leant back against the leather of the booth.

In fact, more than okay, he thought. Excellent.

That was his team.

* * *

A/N : Please review...


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